Method of transporting a framebuffer

ABSTRACT

A method of transmitting image data in an image display system, includes dividing the image data into framebuffers, and for each framebuffer: dividing the framebuffer into a number of vertical stripes, each stripe including one or more scanlines, dividing each vertical stripe into at least a first and a second block, each of the first and the second block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, and storing first pixel data in the first block with a first resolution and second pixel data in the second block having a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution, transmitting the framebuffer over the digital display interface to a decoder unit, and unpacking the framebuffer, including upscaling the pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and optionally upscaling the pixel data in the first block.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the transmission of a framebuffer in an image display system arranged for displaying streamed images, such as a VR/AR system.

BACKGROUND

Image data are often transported in framebuffers across a digital display interface. Known such interfaces include DisplayPort and MIPI. Normally, the pixels are streamed one image line at a time at a rate of 60-90 Hz. Current systems are well adapted to the display of video streams, but VR/AR systems typically require a much higher resolution, which leads to higher requirements on the transporting methods.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to enable faster transmission of image data over a digital display interface.

This is achieved according to the present disclosure by a method of transmitting image data over a digital display interface in an image display system, comprising dividing the image data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising a number of pixels to be displayed as an image on a display unit in the image display system,

the method comprising for each framebuffer:

dividing the framebuffer into a number of vertical stripes, each stripe comprising one or more scanlines,

dividing each vertical stripe into at least a first and a second block, each of the first and the second block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, and storing first pixel data in the first block with a first resolution and second pixel data in the second block having a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution,

transmitting the framebuffer over the digital display interface to a decoder unit, and

unpacking the framebuffer in a decoder unit, upscaling the pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and optionally upscaling the pixel data in the first block.

The disclosure also relates to an image display system arranged to display an image to a user, said image display system comprising a display stream source arranged to provide a stream of image data, an encoder arranged to convert the stream of image data into a packed display stream, a decoder arranged to receive and decode the framebuffers and forward the decoded display stream to the display, wherein

the encoder is arranged to pack the data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising image data to be displayed as an image in the image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution and

the decoder is arranged to unpack the framebuffers, adding pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and displaying the image.

Hence, according to the disclosure, the time to transmit a full framebuffer is reduced by reducing the amount of pixel data that is to be transmitted in some areas of the image, in particular in areas of the image that are outside of the viewer's focus. This means that foveation is utilized to reduce the amount of image data needed in parts of the image that are outside the area that the user is focusing on.

The disclosure also relates to a computer program product for performing the methods disclosed in this document, and a framebuffer package comprising image data to be displayed as an image in an image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution.

The devices and methods discussed in this disclosure are useful for any type of image display system for displaying streamed images, in which it is advantageous to vary the resolution in the images. In particular, this applies to VR/AR systems.

ACRONYMS

AR—augmented reality

DDC/CI—display data channel/command interface

DDC—display data channel

DSC—display stream compression

EDID—extended display identification data

FPGA—field programmable gate array

GPU—graphics processing unit

RAM—random access memory

USB—universal serial bus

VR—virtual reality

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following diagrams wherein:

FIG. 1 displays on a general level the structure of a system in which the present invention may be used;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a part of framebuffer to be transferred on the display interface;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the framebuffer part, unpacked for display;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of the present disclosure and ways in which they can be implemented. Although some modes of carrying out the present disclosure have been disclosed, those skilled in the art would recognize that other embodiments for carrying out or practicing the present disclosure are also possible.

The various aspects of the invention are particularly useful in image display systems in which the images may suitably be displayed with varying resolution. One example of such systems is a VR/AR system in which foveation is often applied to display a higher resolution in the central part of the image compared to the peripheral parts.

An aspect of this disclosure relates to a method of transmitting image data over a digital display interface in an image display system, comprising dividing the image data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising a number of pixels to be displayed as an image on a display unit in the image display system,

the method comprising, for each framebuffer:

dividing the framebuffer into a number of vertical stripes, each stripe comprising one or more scanlines,

dividing each vertical stripe into at least a first and a second block, each of the first and the second block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, and storing first pixel data in the first block with a first resolution and second pixel data in the second block,

having a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution,

transmitting the framebuffer over the digital display interface to a decoder unit, and

unpacking the framebuffer in a decoder unit, upscaling the pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and optionally upscaling the pixel data in the first block.

The disclosure also relates to an image display system arranged to display an image to a user, said image display system comprising a display stream source arranged to provide a stream of image data, an encoder arranged to convert the stream of image data into a packed display stream, a decoder arranged to receive and decode the framebuffers and forward the decoded display stream to the display, wherein

the encoder is arranged to pack the data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising image data to be displayed as an image in the image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution, and

the decoder is arranged to unpack the framebuffers, adding pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and displaying the image. In some embodiments, the encoder is hardwired to arrange the image data into blocks of different resolution.

The disclosure also relates to a framebuffer package comprising image data to be displayed as an image in an image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution.

The framebuffer package may further comprise metadata, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode the image data in the framebuffer package, in particular information about where in the image the data from each block is to be displayed and with what amount of upscaling. In this case, the method comprises the step of including metadata in the framebuffer, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode each stripe. Preferably, in this case, the encoder is arranged to include metadata in each framebuffer, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode the image data in the framebuffer package, in particular information about where in the image the data from each block is to be displayed and with what amount of upscaling. Including the metadata related to a framebuffer in the framebuffer itself allows an efficient way of providing the metadata to the decoder. Alternatively, the metadata may be transferred from the encoder to the decoder separately from the framebuffer by any suitable means.

Typically, the first block holds pixel data of the first resolution to be displayed in a first part of the image, the stripe further comprising two additional blocks having the second resolution to be displayed on opposite sides of the first part of the image. In preferred embodiments, the frame comprises two further blocks having a third resolution which is lower than the second resolution, to be displayed on opposite sides of the additional blocks. As will be understood, the areas of different resolutions may be arranged in any suitable way.

The resolution to be used in each of the blocks may be selected freely. In some embodiments, the first resolution is the same as the resolution in a source image and the second resolution is ¼ of the first resolution. This allows the maximum available resolution to be maintained in the most important part or parts of the image. If there are also blocks having a third resolution, this third resolution may be 1/16 of the first resolution.

The disclosure also relates to a computer program product for controlling the transfer of image data across a digital picture interface, said computer program product comprising computer-readable code means which when run in a processor controlling an image display system will cause the system to perform the transfer according to the methods as discussed in this disclosure.

The blocks are transmitted in the same way as any image data, which means that standard compression methods can be applied to the blocks, including display stream compression (DSC).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general structural overview of a VR/AR system 1, as an example of an image display system, in which the present invention may be implemented, comprising a display unit 11 on which an image stream is to be displayed to a user. The display unit may be any suitable display unit typically arranged to display a VR/AR image stream. A display stream source 13 provides an unpacked stream of image data to an encoder 15 arranged to encode the image data into a packed display stream with reduced vertical resolution. This involves converting the image data into framebuffers including blocks of different resolutions as discussed above. The reduced resolution in some of the blocks leads to a reduced number of pixels to be transferred, making it possible to transfer more framebuffers in the same amount of time with the same bandwidth. As discussed above, metadata comprising instructions for how to unpack the image data should also be transferred, either as a part of the respective framebuffer or separately through any suitable means.

A decoder is arranged to receive the packed display stream and the metadata and to unpack the framebuffers according to the instructions in the metadata. This involves, for any block that has a reduced resolution, to add pixels to make up for the reduced number of pixels in the block. How many pixels to add depends on how much the resolution is reduced. For example, three pixels may be added, to convert one pixel into a block of 2×2 pixels, or 15 pixels may be added, to convert one pixel into a block of 4×4 pixels. The image data, decoded and with the added pixels to make up for the reduced resolution in some parts of the image, are then displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a part of a framebuffer that has been adapted according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The framebuffer is to be transferred over a digital display interface such as DisplayPort cable. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the framebuffer has been divided into vertical stripes comprising 16 lines and FIG. 2 shows one such stripe. The stripe is constructed on the GPU from a source signal of 3500×16 pixels applying varying degrees of downscaling, or binning, as will be discussed in the following. The downscaling may be performed using a custom shader. The stripe has been divided into 7 blocks labelled A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Block A is the largest of the six blocks, comprising 300×16 pixels, thereby covering all 16 stripes. Blocks B and C each has 200×8 pixels, together covering all 16 stripes. Blocks D and E both have 100×4 pixels and blocks F and G both have 100×2 pixels.

In this example, block A holds image data of the highest resolution, which is intended to be displayed in the area of the image that the user is focusing on, for example, in the middle of the image. Blocks B and C hold image data of the second highest resolution, intended to be displayed in areas adjacent to the image data of block A, typically on either side. Blocks D and E hold image data to be displayed in areas adjacent to the image data of block B and C, respectively, and blocks F and G hold image data of the lowest resolution to be displayed near the edges of the image. There is also empty space in this framebuffer, after block G, which can be used to transmit control data.

FIG. 3 illustrates how the data of this stripe of 16 lines is to be displayed in the image. For this purpose, the receiving end contains a custom hardware block, for example a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, to perform unpacking and reconstruct the original image. The image data from block A is displayed in the middle of the image with the same resolution as in FIG. 2, that is, 300 pixels in each of the 16 lines. The image data from blocks B and C are displayed on either side of block A as 400 pixels in each of the 16 lines. Each pixel in block B and C in the framebuffer is shown as 4 pixels in the image, that is, with ¼ of the resolution of the data from block A. Blocks D and E are displayed outside of block B and C, respectively, with 1/16 of the resolution that they have in the framebuffer and blocks F and G are displayed near the respective edge of the image with 1/64 of the resolution that they have in the framebuffer. In this way, the amount of data that needs to be transmitted for areas outside of the focus area of the image is significantly reduced.

It follows that metadata must be provided, to give instructions on how to display the image data of the framebuffer. Specifically, the instructions should detail for each block which part of the image the image data from this block should be displayed in, and also how much the image data should be upscaled, that is, how many pixels in the image should be covered by each pixel in the block. This is reflected in FIGS. 2 and 3 by different patterns, where a white block means that the resolution should not be changed, and a darker pattern indicates that each pixel should be displayed in a bin of a higher number of pixels.

The metadata describing how each stripe is to be decoded can be either embedded into the source signal itself, as part of the image data, transferred as part of display data channel/extended display identification data (DDC/EDID), or sent beforehand via some other channel such as USB. In the example of FIG. 2, as can be seen, there is room for the metadata in the framebuffer after the data of blocks F and G.

Preferably, when generating the framebuffer as shown in FIG. 2, the pixel values stored in each block are generated based on image data based on a number of pixels in the image data corresponding to the number of pixels each pixel in the framebuffer should cover in the image. The pixel value to be stored may be generated in any suitable way, for example as an average value of the pixel values in the bin.

As will be understood, the number of blocks and the size of each block in FIG. 2 is intended only as an example, the important thing being that the blocks have different resolutions, depending on which part of the image its data is intended to be displayed in.

The number of stripes, and their sizes may be selected freely. In the example it is assumed that each stripe has 16 image lines. It would be possible to let each strip consist of one line although this would limit how low the lowest resolution could be.

In the extreme case, the framebuffer is not divided into several stripes, but the whole image is treated as one stripe including a number of blocks.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method that may be used according to the present disclosure, with reference to the system shown in FIG. 1.

In a first step S41 a stream of image data is received from a display stream source 13 in an encoder 15. In a second step S42 the stream is packed into framebuffers as discussed above in connection with FIG. 1. Steps S42, S43 and S44 are performed in the encoder 15.

In step S43, the framebuffers are divided into stripes, in the encoder. The examples above include 16 stripes, but it is possible to use only one stripe for the whole image. As discussed above, the stripe may comprise a suitable number of lines.

In step S44, each stripe is divided into blocks, each block comprising image data stored with a particular resolution.

In step S45, the framebuffers, divided according to steps S43 and S44, are transmitted to the decoder 17.

In step S46, the decoder 17 unpacks the image data. This includes upscaling data in some or all of the blocks in dependence of the resolution. In the example of FIG. 2, the data in block A would not need to be upscaled since it was stored with full resolution. The data in blocks B and C would be upscaled ×4, that is, the value of each pixel in this block would be used for four pixels in a 2×2 square. The data in blocks D and E would be upscaled to 16 pixels in a 4×4 square, and the data in blocks F and G would be upscaled to 64 pixels in an 8×8 square.

Finally, in step S47, the image data including data from all the blocks, upscaled according to step S46 are displayed on the display unit 11.

Each packed stripe must be buffered into the FPGA entirely before the reconstruction can start. For a 3 k display this would be around 60 kilobytes of random access memory (RAM) (3072 pixels with 5:1 compression, 3 bytes per pixel, 16 scanlines per stripe, double buffering for stripes).

The locations of each block in the unpacked image can be different each frame and each stripe, depending on where the full resolution area should be located on the display in each frame. There are a few options on how to achieve this, depending on the FPGA gate budget:

-   -   Send the configuration data encoded into an unused area in the         packed image. This can be implemented fully in the graphics         processing unit (GPU). Extra care must be taken in this case to         ensure that DSC does not mangle the data.     -   Send the configuration data over display data channel/command         interface (DDC/CI). This implementation would require support         from a graphics processing unit (GPU) driver This probably would         not allow full per-stripe control of the block configuration,         but rather some pre-defined curve around a full-resolution focal         point.     -   Send the configuration data over a universal serial bus (USB)         sidechannel. This would require extra hardware and USB drivers,         thus adding overall complexity.

Similarly, there are a few options on how flexible the block configuration can be:

-   -   The option ensuring the greatest flexibility would be to allow         full control over all block sizes and their locations This would         require a relatively large metadata block, which has to be         unique per stripe.     -   A simpler implementation, which would still provide considerable         flexibility would be a selection of pre-defined block         configurations, with optional location adjustment.     -   A more restricted implementation would be to define a per-frame         curve around a central point: In this option only the central         focus point coordinates and perhaps some curve parameters are         provided to the display and the block configuration for each         stripe is determined from those parameters. 

1. A method of transmitting image data over a digital display interface in an image display system, comprising dividing the image data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising a number of pixels to be displayed as an image on a display unit in the image display system, the method comprising for each framebuffer: dividing the framebuffer into a number of vertical stripes, each stripe comprising one or more scanlines, dividing each vertical stripe into at least a first and a second block, each of the first and the second block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, and storing first pixel data in the first block with a first resolution and second pixel data in the second block, having a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution, transmitting the framebuffer over the digital display interface to a decoder unit, and unpacking the framebuffer in a decoder unit, upscaling the pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and optionally upscaling the pixel data in the first block.
 2. A method according to claim 1, comprising the step of including metadata in the framebuffer, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode each stripe.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the metadata comprises information about where in the image the data from each block is to be displayed and with what amount of upscaling.
 4. A method according to claim 1, comprising the step of transferring metadata from the encoder to the decoder separately from the framebuffer.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first block holds pixel data of the first resolution to be displayed in a first part of the image, the stripe further comprising two additional blocks having the second resolution to be displayed on opposite sides of the first part of the image.
 6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising two further blocks having a third resolution which is lower than the second resolution, to be displayed on opposite sides of the additional blocks.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first resolution is the same as the resolution in a source image and the second resolution is ¼ of the first resolution.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the first resolution is the same as the resolution in a source image and the second resolution is ¼ of the first resolution, and the third resolution is 1/16 of the first resolution.
 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein each stripe comprises 16 scanlines.
 10. A computer program product for controlling the transfer of image data across a digital picture interface, said computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium having thereon computer-readable code means which when run in a processor controlling an image display system will cause the system to perform the transfer according to the method according to the following steps: dividing incoming image data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising a number of pixels to be displayed as an image on a display unit in the image display system, for each framebuffer: dividing the framebuffer into a number of vertical stripes, each stripe comprising one or more scanlines, dividing each vertical stripe into at least a first and a second block, each of the first and the second block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, and storing first pixel data in the first block with a first resolution and second pixel data in the second block, having a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution, transmitting the framebuffer over the digital display interface to a decoder unit, and unpacking the framebuffer in a decoder unit, upscaling the pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and optionally upscaling the pixel data in the first block.
 11. A computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the code means are arranged to make the system include metadata in the framebuffer, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode each stripe.
 12. A computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the code means are arranged to make the first block hold pixel data of the first resolution to be displayed in a first part of the image, the stripe further comprising two additional blocks having the second resolution to be displayed on opposite sides of the first part of the image.
 13. A computer program product according to claim 12, wherein the code means are arranged to create two further blocks having a third resolution which is lower than the second resolution, to be displayed on opposite sides of the additional blocks.
 14. A framebuffer package comprising image data to be displayed as an image in an image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution.
 15. A framebuffer package according to claim 14, comprising metadata, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode the image data in the framebuffer package, in particular information about where in the image the data from each block is to be displayed and with what amount of upscaling.
 16. An image display system arranged to display an image to a user, said image display system comprising a display stream source arranged to provide a stream of image data, an encoder arranged to convert the stream of image data into a packed display stream, a decoder arranged to receive and decode the framebuffers and forward the decoded display stream to the display, wherein the encoder is arranged to pack the data into framebuffers, each framebuffer comprising image data to be displayed as an image in the image display system, said framebuffer package comprising at least a first and a second block, each block comprising pixel data to be displayed in an area of the image, the first block comprising pixel data stored with a first resolution and the second block comprising second pixel data stored with a second resolution, which is lower than the first resolution, and the decoder is arranged to unpack the framebuffers, adding pixel data in the second block to compensate for the lower second resolution and displaying the image.
 17. An image display system according to claim 16, wherein the encoder is arranged to include metadata in each framebuffer, said metadata comprising instructions on how to decode the image data in the framebuffer package, in particular information about where in the image the data from each block is to be displayed and with what amount of upscaling.
 18. An image display system according to claim 16, wherein the encoder is hardwired to arrange the image data into blocks of different resolution. 